Traylike folding structure



Sept. 12, 1950 M. I. WILLIAMSON TRAY-LIKE FOLDING STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 9, 1946 i w W 5 Z if 2 i Z E Z HM N 5 fw lNVE NTOR MmzsHnL L 1'. M/lLL/flMSON Patented Sept. 12, 1950 TaAYLI-KE comma. sinnerrunt; r hi-i W ll ams n Ne l c m- Application Novemberll, 1945, Serial N rossso nvention relate to. oldin structures form d o o clahle shee material, suc a aperboard ordinarily employed in the manufacture of folding paper boxes. The f ld n st ucture ofth inv ntion i a cularl useful in its appli ation to th c nstrucion f ol ap ible foldin hoses and oth r device for th ete tion and/or display of mer hand e." and the. invention concerned not only with he foldin struct e per sa ut a s with th oxes, displays. and other devices or wh se rmation the structu e is employ I Th existin hi h-sliced. aut matic equipment mplo ed h manufactu e of f l in pape boxes limits the contour or confi uration of suc boxes almos ntirely to th prosaicrectan ular h pes mm l produced It is therefore,

ghly des able in 1 that industry, m th standpcintof competit on with other types 9 boxe to whi h. beca se o rap dly advanc n echnolo a developm t, this lim tat on d es. ot c iiall a ply. to devise foldin boxes, diS-a p ays, c, f more decora ive or orname tal con-2 fi u ation, wh ch s ill c n e p oduced on the d ex s in h h-sp ed a omatic machine.

.Such mp e fold n boxes and displays ust! na ra l be not Ornamental; butpanel sections, foldable sentinga plurality of facets, 'angularl'y to'at least one other group of substantially similarly formed "invention will be apparent from the following-- detaileddescription of thepreferred specific em into wall structure preand arranged panel wall sections, so that, when properly outfolded,z they combine to reinforce each other and to provide basic wall structure,

there lbeinglother wall panels associated therewith to complete the wall formation. Y

A usual and preferred form of the folding structure involves 30 60 and 90 angularrela tionships between component parts thereof, but other forms may involve difierent angula rela tionships without departing from the generic concepts-of the invention. 7

These and other objects and features of the bodiments illustrated in the-accompanying draw ings,"in which: T

Fig. 1 is; a perspective view of a set-up display container pursuant to the invention;

stru turally s ron and adequately protective oftheir merchandise 0911 2 111. 5 well. In addition,

Where he are o he produced in lar e quantities,

as s usua l th they must be capab e of I uic an eas manual or mechani al erection fill ng, n o ng b th manufac u er or pac er of the ultimate co tents,- 1

An o ject of the present inventi n, th for is to provid ioldihs st uctu e w ic wi m 'ke 1 s ible the u ck. and economical productionof collapsible folding boxes and other devices of ornamental configuration possessing consider.- able st e gth and res stance to oueh' andling.

.A urther objec s to p ovide f lding structu Fig; 2 isa section taken on the line 2---2, Fig. 1; Fig; 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 3T3, Figrly l Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to that of Fig. 1 drawn to a slightly reduced'scale and illustrating I certain of. the wall panels opened out to reveal I reinforcing: and supporting wall pane1s therebelow; and

Fig. 5 is an outside face view of the fiat blank, which is cut andscored to be folded and glued into collapsed tubular form and-thereupon set-up into the display container 'of uresa Referring to the drawings: the illustrated cmbodimentis' a display containerin the-form of an ornamental tray adapted-to contain and displ y merchandise. a l y Asillustrated, the tray possesses a fiat bottom I0 bordered by upstanding walls of outfolded iormation'presenting a plurality of ornamental as above, which will render folding boxes and othe de c i hich it emnl ed able of ineeasily and uickl set-u into usable form 1 from collapsed shipping and storage condition.

Folding structu e produced in accordance with the invention i c aracteri egI by articulated. panel sections, whic, are-outfolded into angular relationship elative to ne an her,- f rm wall ets. and it is. t e eculia interrelation o cert:

in s oupsci se wi l panel sections w i nstitutes the g er c c nce t i herent i embod ment o the i ven onall facetsw'Ihe upstanding walls comprise side walls II, I! and end walls I2, l2. In use,merchandise rests upon the bottom it) of the tray and is retained by'the side and end walls H, II' and l2, l2, respectively. A transparent; wrapper, not shown, may be applied to thetray as aprotection for the contents-without concealing desirable ornamental features of the container nor interfering with displa of such contents. 1

A very 'impo tahtic ur c the invention ;re--

sides i i-the articu ating of on roup o well- In accordance with customary practice in the folding box'industr'y, the tray'is formed by props erly foldin'g', gluingand setting up a suitably out and scored-blame of foldable sheet material Jpnthe preceding figoutfolding, sets of end wall panel sections l2a,

I21) and l2a, i222 arranged for outfolding, and sets of end wall supporting panel sections I20.

l2d, l2e, I21 and I20, [2d, i2e, I2 likewise arranged for outfolding. opposite tuck-in tabs l3, I3 and a lue lap M.

The various wall panels, wall'panel sections, and other parts of the blank of; Fig-tare definedby scores or creases, indicated in the drawings by,

light broken lines, and by cuts, indicated by onbroken lines. Only thosescores and cuts of specialsignificance will be singledout-for discussion,-

it'being understood thatgfolding occurson the scores, and separatiomrordinarily, on the cuts.

Intheinstant case, the bottom wall panels d and lob-are theonly panel portions of: the blank complete in themselves, that is to say,xthe only ones not classified as panel sectionsiand in-- tended to be individual, ,angularly related components of a single wall structure,-- as area set of panelsections Ila, 1 lb, which together form a w side wall ll of the finished tray, or. a set, 12a," iZb, which together, form an-end wall: l2 of the finished tray.

In the construction of the-finished tray, the

blank is firstfoldedinto what is .knownascollapsed); form, and gluedto-provideia tubular, foldable bodyr Thiscanbe and preferably iscarried out ,on well known automatic machinery In addition there; are

widely used in the folding box industry. The

folding may occur on ,either :the :longitudinal score lines 65 and ;l6- jor thelongitudinal score lines .ll' and ligand glue :orequivalent. adhesive is preferably applied ,-to the glue lap has indicated, so that such glue lap is affixed to the inside marginalsurfaceofbottom wall panel .Ilia,

see Fig. 2. It should be-noted that, to permit such folding ofthe complete blank on the longitudinal.

scoreline ll or the; longitudinal score line -lB,' 1.

such score lines are longitudinally extended through the end panel; sections l2c,. I20 and 12e, lZe, respectively,as indi ated at :I'la; Ila and I 6a, 1 8 r s ective As thus folded aridgluedjnto; the; said. col-9.

lapsed form, setting-up is accomplished by slid-z ing the innerbottom -wallflpanel lflbx laterally until it is substantially centrally placed :over

outer bottom wall panel lilct, see Fig. 2, the side.

wall panel sections Ha, Nb and H a, .llb. assuming the outfoldedtriangular; formationof side walls H, H, and'the thereto'angularly related. end wall panel sections lzc, 211, 1 2e,= l 2i and 12%; Mai, 52c, 12 thereby automaticallyassuming the partially telescoped outfolded triangularzformation of end wall supporting structure 20;.20,Fig.

C p n ofthesetting-up operationis accomplished by folding-the end wall, panel sections 52c, IZb-and 12a, lZb overtheir respective supportingstructurezll, zil andtuckingtabs 13,13 through the respective slots =2 l, 2 I Fig; 3, at the" inner bases of said supporting ,tructure.

In the illustrated embodiment, the anglesq must be so if the finished tray-is tobe of the;

marked by arcuate arrows, Fig. :5, are 60; This.

preferred rectangular formation havingwalls of substantially equilateral triangular formatio inzl.

cross-section. Also, it is desirable that the cut lines 22, 22 and 23, 23 be slightly arcuate, as shown, so as to provide sufiicient openness for the slots 2|, 2| to conveniently receive the respective tuck-in tabs [3, l3. Too, it has been found desirable to perforate the longitudinal score lines 24, 24, defining the inner bottom wall panel Illb, to facilitate the setting up and collapse of the tray. 7 I

It should be noted that there ;is here presented a novel teaching of how to construct a triangular tubular wall which is in itself integral, yet bent or folded upon itself at right agles without body distortion;

Whereasthis invention has been illustrated and describedWith'respect to certain preferred specific; embodiments thereof, it should be understood that various changes may be made in said embodiments and various other embodiments may be constructed by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit 'and generic purview of the invention as lowing claims.

I claim:

1. A folding-tray container formed of shaperetaining flexible sheet materiahcomprisin'g two oppositely disposed wall panels, one larger than the-other and the two adapted to lie together in face-to-face contacting relationship when the container is set up; oppositely disposed outfolded sets-of integrally and :articulatively -1related .wall

panel sections joinin said wall -panels together alongcorresponding opposite 'sides thereof and making up, respectively, together with portions of the larger one of said Wall panels, oppositely disposed faceted wall structure of "substantially equilateral triangular formationdn' cross-section when the said contain'er is set-up; oppositelydisposed outfolded sets of r integrally and'articu latively related wall panel sections making up,- respectively, oppositely disposed triangular formation in cross-section when the said container is set-up; said supporting structure being integrally and articulatively -con'-' nected directly to said wall structure-and-adapted to stand at substantially 'right-angIes thereto when: the said container is set-'up;- oppositely disposed sets of integrally and articulatively re'- lated wall panelsections connected toone of said wall panels along opposite'free sides thereof and adaptedto fold over the said outfolded supporting-structure, respectively, andtolie therea'gainst' when the said container is set upyand -tuck-intabs secured to the last-named sets of wall panel sections, respectively, for securing the said container in substantially rigid, strongly reinforced setmptrayformation.

2. :A rectangular folding tray-like receptacleformed'from :a cut and-scored blank ofsha-p'e retaining lfoldable sheetmaterial which has been folded upon itself and-joined to providea 'collapsed, open-ended, tubular shell, said receptacle, whenzrformed from said blank, comprising a double-thick bottom made up of an outer'bottompanel and. of a substantiallysimilarbut smaller tom panel, respectively; and, opposite hollo'wtrfi angular end wallsmade up of respective hollow triangular supporting and reinforcing structure defined by -the-fol-' supporting structurelikewise of substantially equilateral and respective inner and outer panel sections extending integrally from a bottom panel folded thereover and secured in place, said hollow triangular supporting and reinforcing structure of ends of said inner and outer elongate panel sections of the said opposite side walls so that each of said sets presents a completely integral corner-forming extension of its corresponding side wall.

3. A wall structure formed of foldable sheet material, and comprising, a bottom portion; a first wall portion hingedly connected to the bottom portion along a bottom fold line; a second wall portion hingedly connected to the first wall portion along a ridge fold line, the three portions forming a hollow Wall of triangular cross section; and an end structure integral with said wall structure and ioldable from a first position coplanar with said Wall portions into a second position at an angle with respect to said first position, said end structure comprising a plurality of panels hingedly interconnected along fold lines intersecting said ridge fold line at a point of intersection, the two endmost of said panels being hingedly connected to said first and said second wall portions, respectively, along fold lines also running to said point of intersection,

4. A wall structure formed of foldable sheet material, and comprising, a bottom portion; a first wall portion hingedly connected to the bottom portion along a bottom fold line; a second wall portion hingedly connected to the first wall portion along a ridge fold line, the three portions forming a hollow Wall of triangular cross section; and an end structure integral with said wall structure. and foldable from a first position co- 6 first wall portion hingedly connected to the bottom portion along a bottom fold line; a second wall portion hingedly connected to the first wall portion along a ridge fold line, the three portions forming a wall of triangular cross section; and an end structure integral with said wall structure and foldable from a first position coplanar with said wall portions into a second position at an angle with respect to said first position, said end structure comprising a plurality of panels hingedly interconnected along lateral fold lines, the two endmost of said panels being hingedly connected to said first and said second wall portions, respectively, along lateral fold lines, the said lateral fold lines being aimed at a common point on said ridge line defined by the intersection of the ridge line with at least two of said lateral fold lines.

6. In a folding tray-like receptacle formed of shape-retaining foldable sheet material, the combination with a hollow side wall structure of triangular cross section comprising a bottom panel portion, an .outer Wall panel portion hingedly connected to the bottom panel portion along a bottom fold line, and an inner wall panel portion hingedly connected to the outer wall panel portion along a ridge fold line, of an end structure extending integrally and angularly from both the outer and inner wall panel portions of said side wall structure along a pair of fold lines, said end structure comprising a plurality of panel portions integrally interconnected along fold lines intersecting said ridge fold line at a common point, and said pair of fold lines also intersecting the ridge fold line at said common point.

MARSHALL I. WILLIAMSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 189,898 Morgan Apr. 24, 1877 747,932 Brooks, Jr. Dec. 29, 1903 2,146,318 Viscount Feb. 7, 1939 2,242,741 Betts et a1; May 20, 1941 2,318,198 Clarke May 4, 1943 

